(Photo: Getty Images)
By Adam Ellis
Steve Smith and David Warner are set to be allowed to return to club cricket by the New South Wales Cricket Association (NSWCA) thanks to board approval granted this week.
The 12 month bans handed to the Australia Test duo by Cricket Australia prevent them from playing for the national side and domestic cricket in their homeland, but they are eligible to play grade cricket under the jurisdiction of their state boards.
This means Smith can pad up for Sydney’s Sutherland and Warner can do the same for his club side Randwick-Petersham.
Cameron Bancroft, however, will have to wait until Monday for Western Australia District Cricket Council (WADCC) to meet on Monday to determine whether he can play. But his return looks to be more complex due to the WADCC adopting the ruling that a player suspended by Cricket Australia, and therefore WACA, is “automatically disqualified from participation in WADCC Competitions for the duration of that suspension.”
WACA chief executive Christina Matthews recently aired her views on the matter publicly saying she hoped 25-year-old Bancroft would not be ‘the odd one out’ should his more senior Australia team-mates be given the green light to play for their clubs.
Bancroft’s club Willetton have been in contact with the WADCC, who are a commitee independent of WACA, requesting the player’s release to play grade cricket.
Willetton president Ron Kukura told News Ltd: “We’re moving to ask if (the WADCC) would be prepared, for his wellbeing, to grant an exception.
“We’re doing everything we can to get him to play. We want him to play cricket with our club and he wishes to play.”
